– by Jacob Sebranek
The University of Wisconsin-Platteville had a great time playing dodgeball this year. UWP had a large group of freshmen who gained valuable experience. UWP also had several team parties and went to several tournaments where we had loads of fun. The team didn’t do quite as well as they had hoped at nationals but improved a lot and will have a very strong team for next year.
Tournaments
Nebraska – September
UWP – October
CMU – November
Midland – November
UWP – February
DePaul – March
GVSU – March
Nationals @ VCU – April
Nebraska – September
In the month of September UWP traveled to the University of Nebraska Lincoln to play DePaul and Nebraska in dodgeball. First, the freshmen played a short point to get used to collegiate dodgeball. Then UWP played and beat DePaul. Following that Nebraska beat DePaul. Then UWP finished off the day by beating Nebraska.
https://www.facebook.com/DodgeballUWP/videos/1188211967946539/
https://www.facebook.com/DodgeballUWP/videos/1188236177944118/
UWP – October
This was UWP’s first home tournament of the year. UWP’s JV tied SIUE to start the day. Then UWP’s Varsity beat Nebraska and SIUE.
https://www.facebook.com/DodgeballUWP/videos/1208803172554085/
https://www.facebook.com/DodgeballUWP/videos/1208840805883655/
CMU – November
UWP traveled to Central Michigan to play the various Michigan schools in dodgeball. UWP did not do very well on this day. They did not beat any of these talented schools.
https://www.facebook.com/DodgeballUWP/videos/1214181922016210/
https://www.facebook.com/DodgeballUWP/videos/1214133012021101/
Midland – November
Nebraska started off the day beating Midland in a close match. Then UWP beat Nebraska in a hard fought match before easily handling Midland to win the tournament.
UWP – February
This was UWP’s second home tournament of the year. UWP played Nebraska twice and in both matches UWP won a hard fought battle due to experience. Nebraska and UWP then played a friendly with UWP’s alumni.
DePaul – March
UWP and Nebraska traveled to DePaul for dodgeball on St. Patrick’s Day. Nebraska started the day by beating DePaul. Then UWP sweep Nebraska and DePaul but not before they both took early one point leads.
https://www.facebook.com/DodgeballUWP/videos/1324330031001398/
https://www.facebook.com/DodgeballUWP/videos/1324365624331172/
GVSU – March
UWP traveled to Michigan to play at Grand Valley. Grand Valley started things off by crushing UWP. Then UWP got beat by Michigan State. To end the day UWP got demolished by CMU. Although UWP did not win it was a great learning experience for UWP by playing some of the best teams in college dodgeball.
https://www.facebook.com/DodgeballUWP/videos/1331675546933513/
Nationals @ VCU – April
VCU started off the tournament by crushing UWP. Later, Ohio State beat UWP in a close fought 2-1 match. To end day 1 Towson beat UWP in convincing fashion. On day 2 UWP beat Cleveland State to advance to the sweet 16 where UWP lost to eventual champions Grand Valley.
https://www.facebook.com/DodgeballUWP/videos/1355316617902739/
https://www.facebook.com/DodgeballUWP/videos/1355504854550582/
https://www.facebook.com/DodgeballUWP/videos/1356146767819724/
https://www.facebook.com/DodgeballUWP/videos/1356229227811478/
Thoughts:
Louis Thompson – This year I would say we had a down year by Platteville standards. That being said I expect great things from this team in the future. We are a very young team that’s on going up. The experience that was gained was invaluable, especially what came from playing the Michigan schools. I look forward to seeing what this team can prove in the coming future.
Mark Liedtke – I was only here for the second half of the season this year but looking back from where we started when I joined, we made a lot of progress in all different areas on the game. I think one of the more important things we started to figure out on the court this year was our identity as a team and how we wanted to approach the game of dodgeball. While we still have a little bit of searching to do until we find our true style, I am very pleased with the progress we made this year as a team. As the captain, my expectations for the team next season are very high. Being a team of mostly freshman, we still have a lot of room to grow as a team. I feel like we will have a lot more to show on the court with everyone gaining a lot of experience from this season. I am looking to push everyone a little harder to see what we can really do as a team next year.
Goodbyes: Louis Thompson
This year UWP was co-captained by Louis Thompson. Louis is leaving the team to go to a tech school but wishes the team the best.
